Electric railway-brake



(N0 Mddel.)

0. J. VAN DEPOELE.

BLEGTRIO RAILWAY BRAKE.

N0. 438,452. Patented ot. 14, 1890.

NITED STATES CHARLES J. VAN DEPOELE, OF LYNN, MASSACI-IUSETIS.

ELECTRIC RAI LWAY-BRAKE.

SPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent 1\T0. 438,452, dated October 14, 1890.

Application filed April 9, 1890. Serial No. 347,232. (No model.)

T0 aZZ whom it may concern."

Be it known that I, CHARLES J. VAN DE- POELE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvernents in Electric Railway-Brakes, of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accom panying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

My invention relates to improvenoents in means for operating and controlling electrically-actuated brakes or other working-circuits which comprise a fixed resistance to be supplied with current of varying electro-motive force.

It has heretofore been proposed t-o operate railway-train brakes electrically, the motive force of an iron body moving within the field of force of a solenoid having been applied to actuate the lorake mechanism for stopping vehicles and trains. All the methods so far proposed, however, have, I believe, employed wasteful and nnreliable artifical resistances as a means of varying and controlling the flow of current in the brake-crcuits, rendering such apparatus in most, if not in all, cases practically inoperative loy reason of the diffculty encountered in controlling and modifyng the force with which the brakes are applied to the wheels, as is absolutely necessary in practice According to my present invention I secure the desired effects by means capable of the most delicate adjustment and control, and one which includes no dead resistauces, which would be liable to become overheated, f not destroyed, by the long continuous use frequently required of brake apparatus, and which therefore will be found to be very much more reliable in action than any means yet proposed for this and analogous purposes.

The apparatus is illustrated in connection with a number of electric-railway vehicles, and this is for convenience of illustration only, since the invention is not limited to any type of apparatus or class of vehicles, it being obviously necessary, however, on an ordinary steam-railway train to provide a source of current for operating the brake-setting devices.

The details of the invention Will be fully hereinafter set forth, and referred to in the appended claims.

The drawing is a diagrammatic view showing the currentcollecting devices of an electric railway, an electric-railway motor, the wheels and brake mechanism of a number of vehicles, together with the special devices employed in carrying out my invention, parts of the apparatus being shown in side elevatien.

In said drawing, A represents the supply conductor of an electric railway. B is a contact device engaging the Same and collecting current therefrom, which current, as here in dicated, is carried down the trolley-pole 0 and supplied to a switch D,through which it may pass loy conductor d to the coil of a 1110- L-or E or propelling a motor-car, the said car being here indicatcd by the two sets of wheels F F. With the arrangement here shown one side of the circuit is represented by the conductor A and the other by the rails a of the track upon which the vehicle is moved. The circuit of the motorEis connected to the track, and thereby completed by a conductor cl. From the switch D extends a branch conductor G, which traverses the working-circuit, here shown as a train which is to be electrically braked, said conductor G forming one side of the breaking-circuit, as indicated in the drawings.

A lllllllb6l of sets of brake mechanism are shown diagrammatically, said braking mechanism being represented by solenoids H I J, each solenoid being provided with an iro11 plunger 71 t j, said plungers beng mechanically connected with brake mechanisnu by con necting-rods h z j'. The specilic form of the brake mechanism itself cuts 110 figure whatever in this case, and therefore the brake mechanism K L M, represented in conuection With the moving parts, is understood to be by way of illustration onlysince anydirect-actiug form of brake mechanism capable of being operated by my invention mayof course loe employed in connection therewith, and it is 11011 considered necessary to illustrate the endless variety of mechanism to which the invention is applicable. One terminal of the brake-actuating solenoids H I J is connected with the conductor G, the other terminals of said solenoids being connected to a second conductor N, the said solcnoids being therefore arranged in multi p1e-arc relation to each other and to their supplycircuit.

In order to produce the variations in the electro-motive force of the supply-current, and thereby to control the action of the breaking solenoids, I provide a counter-electromotive force and device shown in the form of a motor 0. The counter-electro-motive force device 0 is, for conveniencelocated upon the motor-car or at 01 near the point from which the car or train is contro]led in position to be easi1y reached by the motor-man.

'lhe motor 0 is provided with an armaturel of the continuouscurrent type, which has the usual sectional commutator Q, which is pro vided with main positive and negative commutator-brushes g 1 and also With a third commutator-contact in the form of a movab1e comtamutor-brush R, which is supported upon a hand-lever 0", mounted concentric with the armaturc-shaft q. The positive commutatorbrush q is connected to and receives current from the branch conductor G. The opposite main brush q is connected byconductorg with the return-circuit of the system, in this instance represented by the grounded conductor d. The field-magnet circuit of the motor 0 is desirably connected to the main co1nmutatorbrushes in derivaton, the motor being operated at constant speed. As stated, one side of the brake-circuit is represented by the conductor G, which is assumed to be capable of supplying any desired amount of current to the solenoids H I J. The other side of the circuit of the solenoids is represented by the conductor N, which extends through the train 01 throughout the brakingcircuit and terminates at the movable commutator-contact R. Therefore a1l current passing through the said solenoids must flow through the conductor G, returning by way of the conductor N and movable commutator-brush R. Consequently the position of R With respect to the main brushes of the counter-electro-motive-force device wi1l determine the quantity of current which can flow through the circuit G N. When the movable brush R is oppo site to the main commutator-brush g, 110 current whatever will flow in the circuit G N. As soon, however, as the movable brush is moved away from the said stationary brush q current wil1 begin to flow in the working-circuit, the electro-motive force increasing continua11y until themoving brush is in position opposite to the other stationary brush q. VVhen the brush R is moved around into immediate proximity with the other commutator-brush q current wi11 flow through the circuit G N and traverse the solenoids H I J to the full extent of their capacity. Therefore by moving the brush R between the stationary brushes q q the current in the brake 01 other werking circuit can be regulated with the greatest possible precision, 1eaving nothing whatever to be desired in the matter of the control of the current and eliminating a11 wasteful resistance, as well as delicate and easily-destroyed parts. The motor 0 may be quite a small one, its size depending of course upon the extent and capacity of the workingcircuit. It will also be obvious that the armature of the motor need only be in motion during such time as the brake or other apparatus is in use, although it might be found desir able to keep it constantly in motion in order to be prepared for emergencies. A switch S is provided in the conductor G for opening the brake-circut vvhen desired.

Various changes and modifications may be made in the actual ernbodiment of the inven tion, and it will be understood that in show in g a train-brake circuit such a circuit aifords very favorable opportunities for i11us trating the principles of the invention, which is, however, not 1imited to the operation of any particular type or form of apparatus.

Having described 1ny invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

1. The combination of a working-circuit, including translating devices of fixed resist ance, a continuous-current supply, and an electro-dynarnic counter-electro-motve-force device spanning the Same, and n1eans for varying the potential of the currentsupplied to the working-circuit by increasing and decreasing the eiect of the counter-electromo tive-force device thereon.

2. An electricbrake system comprising brake-actuating coils connected in a brakeoperating circuit, a source of current connected Wth said circuit, an e1etro-dynamic counter-electro-motive-force device spanning the main circuit, and means for increasing or decreasing the eect of the counter-electromotive-force device upon the current flowing in the brake-operating circuit, substantially as described.

3. An eiectricbrake circuit comprising brake-actuating coils connected in a working-circuit, a continuous-current-suppiy circuit, a counter-electro-motve-force device spanning the supply-crcuit, a movablc connection connccted to the terminal of one side of the working-circuit, and means for adjusting the movable connection in any position between the points of maximum and zero electro-motive force of the counter-electromotive-force device, and therebyvarying the potential of the werking-circuit, substantially as described.

4. A system of electric railway-brakes con sisting of electro-magnetic motive devices energized from a source of current flowing in a counter-electro-motive-force device provided with a commutator having two flxed brushes in connection with the supply-current, a third brush or brushesadapted to be moved from the point of highest to lowest electro-motive force upon said commutator, and connections fro1n one of the fixed brushes to one terminal of the brake-ercut, and 0011- nections between the movable brush 01 brushes and the other terminal of sad circuit, substantally as desorbed.

5. An electric-bmkng system comprisng a brake 01 W0rking circuit and brake-actuatng cols conneeted in multiple a1c theren, a source of constant current connected to one sde of the brake-circut, a counter-electromotive-force device spanning the brake-creuit and comprising an electro-dynamc counter-electro-motve-force device havng connections between ts staton2uy commutator-brushes and the opposte sdes of the 

